First and Last
by LightningFuryStrike13
Summary: Rachel told Finn he was her first boyfriend. Her first kiss. She lied.


Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I make not the money.

Rachel's fathers clapped with the audience as Rachel's glee club came in to perform. Their little girl had been subdued before going in and now before the lights went up she looked sad. But as the music started she pasted on a show face so cheerful and bright it could have cured cancer. Silently they glanced at each other and settled in to watch Ken and Barbie sing a song that really should have been Rachel's followed by a solo that once again their little girl would have done so much more with. Nonetheless they clapped politely as they left the stage. As far as show choir performances go it wasn't the worst but it wasn't exceptional. Rachel would have made it exceptional. Of course these are the thoughts of two men who loved their daughter to the moon and back. There was probably only one person who loved their daughter more than they did and he'd probably be just as upset about this turn of events.

Afterwards when the tie had been handed out to their daughter's choir and an all-boys choir that had actually been quite impressive. They quickly stood and approached Mr. Schuster about taking Rachel home. Once permission was granted they quickly gathered Rachel up and left. If they thought it odd that she only bothered to give Noah a small smile as she left and didn't go on a tirade about team building and riding the bus together they didn't say anything about it. At least not in front of the rest of the choir.

Once in their car however, "I'm sorry Honey. You would have won out right if it'd been you up there front and center."

Rachel gave him a sad smile from the back. "Is it bad that I almost hoped our set list would be leaked again so that I could sweep in and save the day? At least then I'd have gotten to sing. I've even been practicing a pretty amazing number. Choreography and everything." Rachel swallowed hard.

"What song?" Hiram asked curiously.

"It's All Coming Back to Me by Celine Dion."

"Been thinking about Hunter?" Leroy said knowingly.

"What! No. No. Of course not. I never think about Hunter anymore. Why would I?" The false bravado after the genuine quiet sadness fell flat and she instantly retreated back into her seat. "Okay maybe a little."

"We'll talk about him more over dinner among other things." They pulled up in front of a fancy restaurant.

"Other things?" Rachel questioned as she climbed out of the car's backseat smiling slightly at the sight of her favorite restaurant.

"We'll talk once we're at the table." Hiram said coming up to link arms with his husband as he placed a guiding hand on his daughter's lower back.

"We have a reservation. Under the name Berry."

The stewardess, a tall willowy woman with a pleasant smile, checked her list. "Table for three, private. Yes. Please follow me."

She led them through the public dining room to a smaller room where the tables were shielded by tall screens. Once seated she gave them each a menu, told them their server's name and then disappeared.

"Hunter and other things? Related things? Are we moving again?" Rachel had never been called stupid and her dads only looked at each other knowingly as if they'd expected her to figure it out quickly.

"Yes Sweetie. I'm being reassigned to Fort Lewis to assist in the training."

"Fort Lewis? Is it close?"

"It's in Washington state Sweetie."

"Oh." Rachel looked down at her hands. She wanted to rage at the unfairness. She wanted to make an argument for staying with one of the gleeks for the rest of the year. But Santana's words echoed in her ears and she stayed quiet. At that moment she'd missed Hunter with a near physical ache. "And Hunter's parents got reassigned as well?"

"Yes they'll get there about a week after we do. As soon as the decision came down Julie called me."

"There is some good news Sweetie. There's a glee club there on the base. You could join them. Their sectionals are still a couple of weeks away."

"A couple of weeks? How long have you known? When are we moving?" Now Rachel was beginning to get upset.

"We didn't want to distract you right before the competition Baby Girl. I've known for about two weeks now. The moving vans will be arriving in three days. I've already got the paperwork filled out for your school. You can spend the next few days you're not packing with your friends then we'll be flying directly to Fort Lewis."

"But Hunter and I…He's so violent and angry Daddy, Dad. I don't know if we can be what we were after what he did."

Leroy sighed. "Sweetie we've not said anything after we moved because we'd hoped that just from missing him you'd get over this and forgive him."

"Not that there's anything to forgive. Baby you have to realize if Hunter hadn't found you when he did that man may have really hurt you. He's luckily Hunter only broke his leg and collarbone."

"He was so angry. If I hadn't stopped him he'd have killed that guy." Rachel defended her decision to be upset.

"Did he frighten you? Hunter not the man."

"No I was never frightened. I know Hunter would never hurt me but that guy, I mean yeah he'd gotten a little too close but I wasn't scared of him."

Again Leroy and Hiram glanced at each other. "Little Girl we've never told you this. You bounced back so quickly and we were moving away from Hunter who'd always been your safety net that we thought it best at the time to keep it from you."

"The fact of the matter though was that the guy Hunter attacked? Well he was an ephebephile. Someone who likes to prey on teenage girls. Once he was in the hospital he was IDed as having attacked and raped three other girls. He'd picked you out as his next victim. They found pictures of you in his apartment. If Hunter hadn't found you when he had…."

"Oh." Rachel paled and was immediately glad the round table was small enough that she was immediately held by her father's on either side. "Does Hunter know?"

"It was on the local news after we left. He knows."

"And all this time I've not talked to him. Thanked him. I thought he was the bad guy. The unreasonable one. When all this time…"

"You'll be seeing him in little over a week. You two can make up then."

Rachel nodded quietly. Now that she knew what she knew her imagination was running wild. She hadn't been scared at the time. A bit uncomfortable at how close the guy had been leaning toward her but he'd been an older teen about 19 and she felt flattered by his compliments. It was nice but the way he leered made her wary and she'd been about to make her excuses and leave when he reached out to hold her arm. She'd frowned at him in confusion then Hunter was there. He'd trapped the guy's knee causing it to fold in sideways before chopping down on his collarbones. The man had immediately been knocked unconscious and Hunter had followed him down to pin him and began viciously punching the side of his head before Rachel had grabbed him and pulled him away.

He'd spat at the man and kicked him again. "Don't touch her, Scum!"

Rachel had to drag him away and then Hunter had wrapped himself around her relieved she was safe but Rachel had flown mad at him for what she saw as a grievous overreaction.

"Did Hunter know before he attacked the guy?" Rachel asked.

"I don't think so. He said later he'd noticed the guy hanging around the school watching you and when he saw how close he was to you that day and holding your arm he immediately thought it was something bad and moved to defend you. Rightly so as it turns out."

"He still just attacked a guy with no warning."

"Hunter's got a temper on him yes but you've always known that Sweetie."

"Yeah." Rachel looked down at her hands. She accepted Hunter's temper. He was as likely to fly off the handle as she was honestly. They just reacted differently. Drama class had her temper tantrums moderated to diva mode. Boxing had Hunter's temper hardened to sharp and decisive violence. Both were manipulative, and driven. They were flawed human beings but who didn't have some fatal flaw? The difference was they'd accepted each other's flaws. They understood one another. In ways Finn and Jesse had never been able to. Well maybe Jesse but he was a little too like her.

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Rachel walked into Glee Club practice for the last time. She'd actually not been at school at all that day but no one had texted her wondering where she was. It just confirmed in a way what Santana had said on the day of Sectionals. Not even Finn had.

"Mr. Schuster? I have a song I want to sing to everyone before we start class. I have something to tell everyone."

"Uh okay." Mr. Schuster ignored the multiple eye rolls and sighs of exasperation from the others while also trying to keep his own sigh quiet. He figured they were all about to be put on blast for not given Rachel any solos and how it'd cost them a decisive win at Sectionals. Privately he realized that he was wrong but last year's competition had been weak enough that he figured giving Quinn and Santana the spotlight now when it wasn't as big a deal would be harmless. It would make everyone a great deal more compliant when it came time to give Rachel the show during Regionals when they went up against Vocal Adrenaline. He hadn't expected the all-boys school to really give them a run for their money. Blaine Anderson's voice combined with their tight choreography had nearly cost them Sectionals of all things.

As the first strands of music came from the piano he realized being put on blast was the least of their worries. "I will remember you….Will you remember me?" Rachel's show face crumbled only holding on enough that she didn't cry through what was a poignant goodbye song.

"Rachel? What do you need to tell us?" Will was almost afraid to ask. This was different. This wasn't Rachel even trying to make them feel guilty. She was genuinely upset.

"I'm moving. To Washington. Tomorrow."

"What?" Now the choir room burst into noise. Finn jumped up but Will got there first to fold the small girl into his arms.

"Rachel why didn't you tell us before now?" He asked as she cried into his sweater vest.

"I didn't know. Daddy's being transferred. He's known for weeks but he didn't want to upset me before Sectionals. That's why they took me home after the competition. We went to eat at my favorite restaurant for the last time and they told me."

"What are we gonna do? We barely tied at Sectionals! We can't win Regionals, beat Vocal Adrenaline without Rachel." Tina cried out saying what no one really wanted to admit.

Rachel shook her head and stepped away from her teacher. She reached for her bag with shaky hands and sniffles. "I found some arrangements. For Tina and Mercedes. Kurt too if he comes back. After me they're the strongest singers. Between Mike and Brittney I'm sure you can get some choreography together that will be awesome. I hate leaving you in the lurch but you can't depend on me to pull us out of the fire anymore if something goes wrong."

Rachel pinned her teacher down with her eyes. "You're going to have to practice. Not a week or a few days before competition. You're gonna have to bust your asses from now until Regionals to have a chance."

She looked at Mercedes saying things she'd wanted to before but never quite had the courage to ruin what she'd thought were budding friendships at the time. "No one carrying you through the entire song so you can wail at the end."

She glanced at Tina. "No more hanging out in the background. You have put yourself forward." She stepped back to look at them as a whole. "I know you've never wanted to listen to me about this before but I'm not going to be here anymore. If you win or lose it's all on you guys."

"Sweetie?" Leroy stood tall in the doorway stopping what may have been quite the insult barrage aimed at his daughter for her brutal honesty. "We have to go. The movers called. They're finished."

"One moment Daddy. I just need to give some last minute advice. Finn? Can you follow us out? I need to talk to you privately."

Leroy nodded and leaned one broad shoulder on the doorway. He looked over the assembled teenagers dispassionately. He wasn't about to leave his daughter to face the angry and disgruntled faces of her former teammates alone and he figured they wouldn't dare insult her with him standing there. Many of them eyed his tall figure warily.

Rachel nodded and pulled out three thick manila folders. One she handed to Mr. Schuster but one she handed to a silently seething Mercedes. "I've included extensive breathing exercises so than you can learn how to be strong throughout the entire song not just bursts."

Mercedes opened her mouth to say something but Rachel held up a hand.

"No! Shut up! You might not want to admit it but that's what you do. You could be phenomenal Mercedes but you have to work at it. Inborn talent isn't enough. There will be no more whining, 'Rachel stole all my solos' this is your time to shine. I don't want to hear that you wasted it because you didn't put your blood, sweat and tears into every song."

Rachel moved passed her to Tina. "You have a sweet voice Tina. If you just had confidence in yourself I know you could do it. I have numerous treatments and routines that you need to stick with if you want to keep your voice in pristine condition. We can't put a wire mic on you. You're gonna have to learn how to project your voice without its quality suffering. There's a number of a vocal coach in there as well since I won't be here to help."

Tina nodded tentatively while biting the inside of her lips together. It's not like Rachel hadn't sprouted these things before but her word vomit tended to go in one ear and out the other.

Finally Rachel climbed the bleachers to give a standing Noah a good tight hug. "Thank you for being my friend Noah. I'll miss you."

The bad boy gave her a tight hug in return and swayed a bit as he kissed her hair. "Miss you Rachel."

She sniffed and wiped away her tears as she walked down the bleachers. At the door where Finn and her Daddy were hovering she turned to grace them all with her best show face. "Okay. You guys will be great. I know you will." She swallowed hard and for just a moment her show face falter letting them see just how much she was going to miss them despite none of them but Noah ever professing to honestly like her. "I'll miss you. Give'em Hell from me okay?"

She quickly turned and followed her Daddy out. He placed an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him preventing Finn once again from touching her.

It was only in the parking lot that he finally let her go and continued on to where Hiram was talking on his phone while standing next to their car.

Rachel turned to Finn and started to speak but Finn wrapped her up in his arms before she could.

"I can't believe this. How can you leave us like this? Leave me like this? Isn't there anything we can do? You could stay with my mom and me."

Rachel pulled away and looked up at him sadly. "We're about to start out right now. You know my dads would never go for that. This is my life Finn. Staying in Lima for as long as I did was amazing. Most of my life I've spent moving from one base to another. When Dad took over at the tank plant I'd hoped I'd get to finish high school here but I always knew we might have to move again. This was my first time at a public school even. I can't say I had the greatest time here what with the rampant bullying but Glee was wonderful."

"What about us?"

"I think we should break up."

"What?! But..." He stopped at her finger on his lips.

"Long distance relationships don't work Finn. I broke up with my boyfriend before I came here too."

"I thought you never had a boyfriend before me. You said I was your first kiss and everything."

Rachel looked sad. "We didn't part on the best of terms. I wanted to forget him. Not that I was ever really able to but I tried. One of the reasons I was attracted to you was because you remind me of him in some ways. Just like Noah reminds me of him in others and Jesse…Jesse was probably the closest to being back with Hunter as I've ever gotten."

"He made that much of an impression on you for however long you stayed at wherever you were before?" Finn was starting to get angry and defensive. Hearing Rachel talking about this other guy made him mad. It was like she was cheating on him only with her mind. Was it this other guy, Hunter, she thought of when they kissed, held hands, sang? Was it his hands she imagined squeezing her soft boobs or someone else's? Knowing she'd been with Puck and St. Jerk was bad enough but this other guy. This unknown made Finn truly nervous about his place in Rachel's affections. It was one thing to be the quarterback dating the outcast. Rachel was grateful for the protection his popularity provided but now she was leaving McKinley's ranking system. For the first time Finn judged Rachel and his standing outside of the lenses of high school and it made him uncomfortably aware of just how little he had to offer the diva.

"We actually spent most of our childhood together. His mom and my dad worked closely together. They usually got transferred to the same place at the same time."

"Is he gonna be where you're going? Is that why you're breaking up with me?"

"Yes."

"What the fuck Rachel! I love you. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Or has it always been him."

Rachel shook her head starting to tear up again. "It did mean something Finn. Lying about your past partners and backhanded compliments aside you've been a good boyfriend and I do love you but if I couldn't do a long distance relationship with Hunter I surely can't have one with you. I'm sorry but this is goodbye." Rachel felt her dad's hands on her shoulder. He'd come up behind her when Finn had yelled at her.

"Goodbye Finn. Have a nice life." Hiram stated emotionlessly. He'd never liked the boy. Leroy only waved from the driver's seat.

Rachel gave him a sad smile before letting her Dad turn her around.

"Goodbye Rachel." Finn could only watch in silence as Rachel was handed into the backseat of an unfamiliar rental car.

As they drove away Finn ran after them to the corner and sadly waved as she drove out of sight. Will came up behind him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. Most of the Glee club had watched her drive away and though more slowly had followed Finn to the corner.

It was Mike that broke the silence. "Think we can actually win without her?" Tina punched his side. "Ow. I mean it Tina. You're great you really are I love your voice but it's not Rachel's. It's not that fill the room and feel her voice in your bones thing that Rachel had. She was our edge and she's gone now."

"Vocal Adrenaline doesn't have St. Jerk anymore either. It might even out." Quinn pointed out.

"What about the Warblers? They have Kurt. If anyone could actually take Rachel's place it'd be him." Mercedes was willing to admit that.

Tina silently fumed.

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A week later Rachel sat at her new desk putting away her clothes as she chatted on the phone to Kurt about the pros and cons of returning to McKinley.

"No. I gave Mr. Schue strict instructions to not release your folder until you return to New Directions. I love you Kurt but I'm not gonna help the enemy."

"Jesse St. James aside." Kurt snarked back.

"That was all his and my mother's plan. I was the innocent victim in that case."

"Sure you were. I think…"

"Kurt wait. Be quiet. I think I hear something." Rachel listened and her keen ears picked up three male voices in the front room. Two were her father's. One was deeper than she remembered but nonetheless very familiar. "Kurt he's here!"

"Hunter?" Once he'd established communication with his fellow diva he'd gotten her to spill about this mysterious former boyfriend that Finn had ranted about. Rachel had been all too willing to dish about her thoughts and feelings at the reunion to come to a willing ear.

"Y-yes."

"Deep breathes Rachel." Kurt coached. He had a big grin on his face that had Blaine looking at him questioningly but he only waved at him as he listened.

"Oh Kurt. His voice sounds like velvet through the door. What am I gonna do once he's in front of me? I miss him so much it hurts. I might melt in a puddle in front of him. What if he hasn't missed me as much? What if he only came over to tell me that he wants nothing to do with me?"

"Deep. Breathes. Rachel. He's continued sending you those animal sweaters and you kept wearing them. I fairly sure neither of you had a lessening of feelings." Kurt had been shocked and somewhat disgusted to find out that Rachel's animal sweaters were from this Hunter character and that she worn them to McKinley as a sort of armor since he couldn't physically be there with her. As much as Kurt hated the animal sweaters it finally made sense why Rachel who would wear patterned hose and short skirts choose to top her assemblage with those weird childish sweaters.

"Right. I can hear his boots as he comes down the hall." Rachel stood nervously in her room trying not to pace or fidget. She had a death grip on the phone though.

"Put me on speaker and I'll put you on mute so I can listen but he can't hear me. Put me in your pocket."

"Right. Okay." Rachel quickly did just that as Kurt did the same on his end. He and Blaine gather close to the phone on his end. Blaine grinning at the ridiculous drama that came out of New Directions even when one of their members was 2,000 miles away. Kurt had filled him in on Rachel's boyfriend drama a few days ago. It was far too entertaining to keep to himself. Through him most of New Directions knew as well.

Over the phone Kurt and Blaine heard the squeak of the door opening and the nearly silence gasp of Rachel. Then a low very male groan.

"Goddamn Rachie are you a sight of sore eyes. Come here Baby. I've missed you." The two gay boys raised their eyebrows as they looked at each other impressed. Rachel was right he did sound good. Blaine shifted uncomfortably in his suddenly tight trousers.

"Hunter." Rachel replied softly in this sweet loving voice Kurt had never heard her use before. There was a sudden rush and rustled clothing and sweet and soft moans from both teens before Kurt heard the squeak of the bed springs and quickly tried to hang up the phone.

"It's just getting to the good part." Blaine complained as he grabbed the phone and took it off speaker as he held it to his ear.

Kurt shuddered. "No thank you."

Blaine chuckled. "You're adorable."

Kurt blushed and turned to concentrate on his neglected homework.

Blaine smiled quietly and let him focus on something else while he continued to listen to the quiet sighs and moans.

2,000 miles away…

Rachel was glad the phone was in her pocket or it might have dropped out of her suddenly limp fingers. In the door way stood Hunter and for the first minute they each just took each other in as they studied the changes that'd taken place while they'd been apart.

Hunter was taller for one. He'd bulked up a bit more muscle wise but was still lean. His hair was still short but more styled. She'd remembered a boy of wiry strength but now there stood a predatory man and she wanted him so much.

Hunter groaned, "Goddamn Rachie are you a sight of sore eyes. Come here Baby. I've missed you."

"Hunter." Rachel met him in the middle of the room and quickly wound her arms around his neck as she went up on her tip toes to kiss him.

He wrapped long, strong arms around her tiny body and pulled her up against him as he moaned softly against her mouth. With an arm beneath her behind he lifted her and laid her down on the bed quickly following to press her into the soft mattress and make thorough love to her mouth even as his hands ran down her sides to stroke up her thighs and around her hips. He squeezed her ass and then moved his hands under the thin tank top up her back to hold her close while he spread his fingers wide to stroke her soft skin.

Rachel herself stroked her hands over his broad shoulders and chest and down arms exposed by his sleeveless grey t-shirt. Her own small hands tugged at the pockets of his jeans and slide under his shirt enjoying the bumps and ripples of his stomach and chest finally circling around under his shirt to stroke down the long muscles of his back pulling him closer, tighter to her.

Finally Hunter pulled back with a groan. "Missed you so much Rachie. I love you. I never want to be apart. Never again."

"Me too. I love you too. I missed you so much. I wore your sweaters every day. I dreamed of you every night. Oh Hunter there's lots of colleges in New York…"

"I won't apply to any city you don't."

"If we move again…"

"I'll come with you. I already told your Dads I would. My parents agree. We are so much more together than apart. You're my soulmate Rachie."

"And you're mine. I love you. I love you so much."

"Marry me. Not now. But one day. Please. I want to marry you."

"So we don't ever have to be apart."

"Right."

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"God I love you so much."

Rachel smiled and flipped them over. She felt Hunter's hands squeeze her ass again and reflected that she never felt so comfortable with a boy who wasn't Hunter. Their time apart had just made her appreciate him so much more. She leaned forward to kiss him again quite forgetting about the phone in her pocket.

2,000 miles away….

Blaine's eyes were huge and Kurt was studious trying to ignore him. Finally Blaine hung the phone up. "Uh Kurt. Hunter asked Rachel to marry him."

"What?" Kurt dived forward to grab his phone but frowned when he noticed Blaine had hung up. "What did she say?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes." Blaine chuckled. "Pretty much exactly like that."

"Tell me everything. Every word."

"He told her he'd missed her so much and she's like I missed you too. Then he was like we're soulmates and I never want to be apart again. She points out there's lots of colleges in New York and he says he won't apply to any city she doesn't then he goes on about if they move again he's coming with her. Even their parents agreeing. How they're better together than apart."

"Then he asks her to marry him?"

"Yeah. Not now but one day. And she says something corny about never being apart. Then they do that yes yes yes thing, I love you, and started kissing again."

Kurt sat there stunned. "That's…wow. Unexpected."

"To say the least."

"Finn's going to freak."

"You don't have to tell him. I mean what's the chances they'll move back here anyway?"

"Good point. But if Rachel's Glee Club there goes to Nationals then we might see her then. It'd be just like Finn to do something stupid too."

"And this Hunter but all accounts is extremely violent. You don't think he'd hurt Finn do you?"

"Depends on what stupidity my brother intends to pull."

"Okay there's a lot of ifs and maybes here. Let's worry about it if it happens. Until then I thought you had homework to do?"

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To say Rachel got some attention on her first day would be an understatement. Between her high heels, long pushed to the back of her closet to avoid slipping on slushy, her thigh highs, short skirt and cute top she was immediately introduced to several of the more popular girls in school. Unlike at McKinley at a new school with Hunter nearby Rachel radiated happiness and confidence and that's the kind of attitude that always gets attention. Behind the girls came the handsome guys as well. Rachel smiled winningly at everyone but had already turned down a date with "I have a boyfriend." When said boyfriend arrived.

"Already making friends Rachie?"

"Hunter." Rachel quickly wound an arm around his back and tiptoed up to kiss him.

He smiled against her lips as he leaned down to meet her. His eyes grew hard and defensive however when he looked at the other boys and pulled Rachel closer to him. "I'm Hunter Clarington. Rachie's boyfriend."

Despite the defensive beginning the group quickly welcomed the two. Rachel departed with a girl named Chelsea for her first class while Hunter left with two boys to his own class. As they parted they looked back at each other and blew each other kisses. Before the day was out word had gotten around that the two good looking new kids were joined at the hip and engaged. Which is why when they walked into the Glee Club that evening a repeat of this morning didn't happen. After their audition pieces blew the club away the decision to put them as the two new leads was almost unanimous.

Chelsea bounced up to Rachel afterwards. "How are you keeping that huge voice inside that little body?"

"Practice." Rachel grinned.

Deciding not to let her practice for the song she'd prepared for New Directions' Sectionals go to waste she quickly had every one board to perform that one. She'd also really wanted to perform it for Hunter. With that as a theme another girl suggested The Corrs, "Forgiven Not Forgotten" as a group number and "There's No Place That Far" was set as a duet for Hunter and Rachel.

Weeks later when Rachel uploads the video of her second Sectionals on her MySpace Kurt and Blaine having moved to New Directions shudder. There's no way, unless they lose to The Warblers, that they weren't meeting the Joy Brigade at Nationals.

They pulled in Puck and began making plans to minimize any problems that might arise. Eventually nearly everyone in Glee Club including Mr. Schuster was in on a number of plans eventually leading to an intervention for Finn. Unfortunately they wouldn't know if it worked or not until Nationals which were quickly approaching.

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It was almost all for not when they entered the hotel to see Rachel and Hunter waiting on them. Kurt saw them before they saw the group and caught Puck's eye to grab Finn before he could do anything.

Rachel was leaning back against Hunter with her head tilted to the side as he kissed behind her ear. From her closed eyes, and blissful face to the cute dress and high heeled sandals she'd have never worn at McKinley she looked nearly unrecognizable.

Every the teacher, with the need to break up PDA, it was Mr. Schuster who broke the ice. "Rachel. It's so good to see you." He strode forward to enfold her into a hug as a watchful Hunter tentatively released her. She was quickly passed to Kurt, Blaine and finally to Puck who blocked Finn's attempts by quickly returning her to Hunter.

"Everyone I want to introduce you to Hunter, my fiancé."

"Nice to meet you." Hunter was coldly polite. He carried an unconscious arrogance about him that rubbed most of New Directions the wrong way much like Rachel's had honestly. They were oddly perfect for one another in fact. Rachel seemed much calmer too. She was comfortable with Hunter's dangerous presence behind her. Juxtapose the filled with nervous almost frightened energy and excitement barely contained within prim and proper behavior they'd seen at McKinley.

It wasn't difficult to believe Rachel was the center of attention as five pretty chatty girls and ten tall well built boys joined her and Hunter. New Directions were forced to step back as the Joy Brigade all adopted matching camo bandanas wrapped around various body parts as a man in casual fatigues loudly gathered them together for what was apparently going to be a museum tour. Rachel gave them a smile and wave as she was ushered out with her Glee club.

"That must be Rachel's Glee Club." Tina said.

"You don't think they're actually called Rachel's Glee Club, do you?" Santana said.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Mercedes chimed in.

Mr. Schuster herded his group into the elevator bays and had them meet in his room after everyone was settled.

"'Rachel's Glee Club' is called the Joy Brigade actually and they are the group to beat this year. The choir circuit has been lighting up about them. Not surprising given that Rachel's their lead. There was some speculation during their Sectionals on why Rachel was barely seen in ours versa her getting the lead in a group from across the country and blowing their Sectionals away. I watched their Regional performance online. They're going to be very tough to beat. They did an original song for Regionals. Hunter's no slouch either. Besides being a gymnast he's got a good enough voice to keep up with her and they blend well. Rachel's right we're going to have to work our butts off to make this work."

Puck looked shifty eyed in the background before finally rising his hand. "I've got an original song. Mike's been working on choreography for it."

"That's great Puck! Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I hadn't finished it yet. I worked on the last parts of it on the plane."

"Well let's hear it!" Will encouraged the boy who retrieved his guitar to strum and sing out his piece. "That was beautiful Noah. We can definitely use that. Mike you have choreography in mind?"

"Yeah."

"Great we get the stage for a few hours a day. We'll practice then."

As their brain storming went on Blaine couldn't help but compare The Warblers' practice schedule to New Directions fly by the seat of your pants ways. Granted New Directions was unusual in the fact that literally every person was very talented. But despite Rachel's folders even Kurt didn't practice as diligently as he ought to. He thought about how every time they talked to Rachel she seemed to either be coming or going to practice. He knew they were going to lose. He just hoped it wouldn't be badly.

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"Who were you talking to in the foyer?" Chelsea asked as they marched down the street.

"New Directions. They were my old choir. I'm glad they made it to Nationals. They must have taken my suggestions to heart."

"Your suggestions?" Jack, one of the boys ahead of them turned to walk backwards so he could talk to them.

"Yeah before I left Ohio I put together a bunch of material. Breathing exercises, gave them the number of a vocal coach, things like that. They'd just tied at Sectionals and I didn't want to leave them in the lurch."

"So you were what? Fraternizing with the enemy."

"Just politely greeting them. There will be no fraternizing while I'm around." Hunter stated.

"Indeed not. And I helped them before I joined The Joy Brigade so it doesn't count. I won't be helping them here. While I wish them the best the best is second place because first place is mine…I mean ours."

The group chuckled. They were well aware of how competitive Rachel and Hunter could be. As much as they all practiced they knew the two leads put in many more hours privately as well. There could have been jealousy in the group for the two new comers but after the first week of preparing for Sectionals when they watched just how dedicated Rachel and Hunter were there was no more division in the ranks.

"Hell yeah it is! Hoo-yah!" Another boy called out.

"Hoo-yah!" was repeated by the rest of the group. Their choir director gave them a grin and a fist pump to do it again as they continued down the street.

Rachel began to sing _New York State of Mind_ and the others joined her as they walked.

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The rest of the week was extremely frustrating for Finn. Not only was his choir watching his every move but when he did manage to see Rachel her and that Hunter guy were joined at the hip. In the months since she'd left he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. Even a brief fling with Quinn for Prom hadn't completed wiped Rachel from his mind.

At night he'd watch her videos on MySpace with headphones on so Kurt didn't know and followed Jacob's blog since he was another that wasn't over Rachel Berry. Both of them followed her from afar through MySpace videos and later Facebook. Both quietly grumbled about Hunter's increasing number of appearances in her videos. Jacob publically through his blog and Finn privately to himself.

Not even Puck was on his side. He'd dated her. He knew how she could make a guy feel. How she could make a guy feel ten feet tall like he was the best thing ever. He missed that. He missed her. It hurt that she didn't seem to miss him at all. Had it all been a lie? Had his first thought been true? Had she been pretending she was with Hunter the whole time she'd been with him? The very thought made him furious. He thought they'd really had something. Had something perfect. Something lasting.

He just needed to get Rachel alone. Talk to her about them. About how good they'd been. Convince her to come back to Ohio. First he needed to figure out when that arrogant Hunter bastard left her side. Seriously did they go to the bathroom together?

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"I'll be right back." Rachel quickly dropped a kiss on Hunter's forehead as he helped Jimmy stretch his calf muscle, rubbing the cramped muscle vigorously.

She quickly walked down the hall towards the restroom. Some choirs had their dressing room doors open to let in some cool hallway air and she glanced in each one interested. No one with their doors open were practicing. Most were working on costumes or musical notation quietly. She passed New Directions and slowed down enough for a quick wave to everyone inside before continuing to the bathroom. Most of them were leaned over a notebook on Noah's lap and didn't notice but Finn nonchalantly stood up and stretched before mentioning to Mike that he was heading for the bathroom.

Rachel finished up in the bathroom and headed back to The Joy Brigade's dressing room. Again she gave a quick wave to New Directions as she passed. When she was about halfway between the two dressing rooms she heard Finn.

"Hey Rach."

She turned to see Finn giving her that a goofy grin that had once seemed so endearing. "Hey Finn." She was a little confused why he was so far from his choir room and realized he must have been following her. She began walking towards her dressing room again.

"Hey wait up I was hoping we could, you know, talk." Finn's long legs quickly caught up with her.

"I don't think that's a good idea Finn. We're in competing show choirs." Rachel quickened her pace a bit but Finn easily kept stride with her.

"Yeah but we don't have to talk about them. We could talk about us."

"There is no us Finn. I have a fiancé." The dressing room door was in sight. It was still slightly ajar from where she'd left.

"We were so good together Rach. Give us another chance. You could move back to Ohio and everything would be the way it was before."

"No thank you. I'm happy now. I was never happy in Ohio."

"Rach wait." Finn reached out to grab Rachel's arm and jerk her to a stop just before she could touch the door of her dressing room.

"Let me go." She said quietly knowing that if Hunter heard them it would not end well for Finn while at the same time hoping Hunter would appear. Finn was scaring her a bit. If she didn't know Hunter was only feet away she'd probably be quite worried.

Unfortunately for Finn Hunter was leaning against the wall next to the door watching Jimmy for a limp as he ran through the steps again. He heard an unfamiliar male voice say "Rach wait." This alone may not have sprung him into action because Rachel was a common name. But his fiancé's quiet "Let me go." Said with a thin edge of fear was enough to have him jerking the door open.

Finn barely saw Hunter's furious face before a sharp brutal pain in his arm forced him to let go of Rachel. He glanced down and never saw the back of Hunter's fist crash into his temple. He fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Hunter quickly wrapped his arms around Rachel. He squeezed her tight and hoped beyond hope that this wouldn't be a repeat of the last time he came to her defense violently and he didn't get to see her again for a year and a half. He sighed in relief when he felt her arms wrap around his waist and her head burrow into his chest.

"What happened here?" Sergeant Cutter asked as he looked at the tall boy unconscious on the floor and then glanced at his tiny female lead wrapped up in her fiancé's arms. She looked down at the other boy worried. Not for him it seemed but for herself. She hugged Hunter tightly and edged away from the other boy.

"Finn followed me from the bathroom. He kept saying he wanted to talk about 'us' and how I could come back to Ohio and everything would be the way it was. I told him no, and that I was happy, that I was never happy in Ohio. Then he grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go."

"I heard Rachie ask him to let her go. When he didn't I chopped his arm down and backfisted his temple. Guy's got a glass jaw I guess." Hunter looked down at the other boy with hot angry eyes. Rachel's thin arms and tiny body seemed to be calming and soothing further action towards the downed boy.

Sergeant Cutter nodded, "This guy from your old glee club?"

"Yeah. My ex-boyfriend too. We broke up before I moved to Ft. Lewis and was reunited with Hunter."

"I see. Ryan! Seth! Grab this guy and follow me. We'll return him to his club and I'll see if I can smooth things over with his director. He started it by grabbing little Rachie. Hunter was pretty restrained by my count. New Directions right?" Sergeant Cutter rubbed his rough chin as he looked from the downed boy to his little female lead. He wasn't sure that second hit from Hunter was really necessary but what was done was done. He'd like to get out of New York without having to deal with the law.

"Yeah the door right before the bathrooms. I waved as I went by but didn't realize he was following me until we were halfway down the hall."

"Hmm…" That was interesting. Leaned itself to the fact that the boy planned this. He didn't want either choir to hear them talk. He just didn't expect Rachel to not be willing to listen, to be in a hurry to return to Hunter. "Got him? Let's go." Ryan and Seth, two of the biggest boys in the group grabbed Finn under the arms and behind the knees to carry him down the hall quickly.

"This yours?" Sergeant Cutter asked New Directions as Seth and Ryan followed him in and deposited a moaning Finn on the couch.

"Yes. What happened?" Will quickly stood up to check on his student and winced at the bright red marks that were starting to darken on Finn's arm and temple. Quinn and Kurt quickly knelt beside him on the couch while Tina got some water.

"Stalked little Rachie down the hall after she came back from the restroom. Jumped her when he was far enough away from both rooms to not be heard. Scared her a bit especially when he grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go despite her asking him to. One of our group heard her and made him let her go. She IDed him and I brought him back here. I'm hoping we can avoid any more of a scene. My lead's rather shaken up and the convention takes a rather dim view of female leads getting attacked." Sergeant Cutter framed his explanation rather accusingly. Throwing out words like stalked and attacked. He wanted the focus to be on this big teen grabbing his little lead and not on her well trained boyfriend knocking him unconscious for it. "Justice has been served though and I'm sure we'd both rather not get disqualified."

Will glanced at Finn who was slowly coming around and back at the hard unemotional faces of the man in fatigues and the two large boys on either side of him. He looked around the room at the worried faces of his team. A good portion of them however were shaking their heads at Finn seemingly disappointed in him. Others looked at Mr. Schuster worried about disqualification. As much as Will wanted to take the part of his favorite he knew he couldn't let the rest of the team down because of one boy's indiscretions. Besides the military man was correct. The National Choir Convention would hear that New Direction's male lead, a very tall boy, had grabbed the tiny female lead of The Joy Brigade. The fact the Finn had suffered a knock to the head and arm in her defense wouldn't get much attention at all. All the blame would fall on his own club and he couldn't let that happen. If The Joy Brigade was willing to let it be he wouldn't stir up trouble. "I'm very sorry that Finn troubled you. Is Rachel alright?"

"Fortunately our door was cracked and her pleas were heard before anything else could happen."

"Good. I'm glad she's alright. I'll make sure Finn doesn't bother her anymore. I'm sure there's no need to mention this to the Convention. It won't be happening again."

"See that it doesn't." Sergeant Cutter turned and the two boys with him parted and let him through before following him out.

Will closed the door tightly behind them and rested his forehead on it as the room exploded with noise. He was thankful the rooms were sound proof as he turned around to see Finn trying to sit up before being pushed back down by Sam. "What were you thinking Finn?"

"I just wanted to talk to her. Convince her to come back to Ohio with us." Finn muttered groggily.

Will winced and rubbed his forehead. "Finn, think. Rachel's a teenage girl, with parents, who moved away. She can't just decide to move back to Ohio. That would be running away from home. Even if she did agree, which given the number of friends she has, her fiancé and how happy she looked the day we got here she has absolutely no reason to, I'd have to stop her because if she'd gotten on the plane with us I'd get arrested for kidnapping her."

Finn looked confused. "She could stay with Kurt and me."

Will pinched the bridge of his nose. "Even if she did want to come back to Ohio with us her parents, you remember them? The two large overprotective men who love their daughter very much? Are not going to let their precious daughter live 2,000 miles away from them. Especially not with her ex-boyfriend."

"Why not? She seems to live with her current boyfriend." Finn roughly pushed Sam away and sat up only to immediately regret it as his head spun and he dived towards the waste basket to vomit.

Will sighed. There was no talking to the boy right now. As it was they'd need to watch him for a concussion. Already a large purple bruise was spreading across his temple and the bruise that was forming on his arm was well on its way to turning black. Thought he didn't seem to be favoring it he knew it must hurt like an absolute bitch and there may even be a chance it was broken. Didn't Kurt mention something about Rachel's boyfriend breaking a guy's legs before?

"From now on Finn goes nowhere alone. Not to the bathroom. Not to the bedroom. Work out shifts or whatever but someone, preferably someone big enough to grab him must be with him constantly." He met the eyes of Lauren and every boy but Artie.

"You got it."

"I know some of you jocks know injuries a lot better than I do. Check his arm and watch him for a concussion. I don't want to have to take him to the hospital. We'd have a hell of a time explaining it to the Convention and causing trouble of any kind at this level might get us disqualified."

Santana and Quinn nodded and carefully eased him down next to the foul smelling trach can. Santana examined his arm for a few minutes before asking Mercedes to retrieve some cloth scraps from their outfit creation and begun splinting and wrapping Finn's arm. She reassured him it was just precautionary. Quinn nudged Finn to keep him awake and seemed to be talking to him furiously.

"Rachel and me were special. Are special. I want her back. I want her back!" Finn whined and shouted.

Will was starting to get more and more concerned about a concussion.

Kurt came up beside him. "I think Rachel leaving really messed him up. He's obsessed with her now. He thinks I don't know he watches her MySpace videos nearly as much as Jacob Ben-Israel does."

"Unbelievable. Diva's not even with us and she's causing drama." Mercedes rolled her eyes as she helped Santana tie off the splint and put Finn's arm in a sling.

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"You okay Rachie?" Hunter murmured against her temple as he held her close. He'd sat down and pulled her into his lap.

"Yeah. Just a little shook up I guess. I've never been afraid of Finn before. He was acting very strange." She pressed her face into Hunter's chest and breathed in his scent, taking him into her lungs and letting herself relax into his arms.

"You're not mad at me for busting him up?" Hunter seemed worried. Not that it was unfounded.

"I thought you showed remarkable restraint." Rachel hugged Hunter tighter. "I love you. You make me so happy."

Hunter nearly slumped in relief and pulled her tighter against him instead. "I love you too. So much. More than the air I breathe."

"If you two are through being mushy as fuck you want to explain what just happened in a little more detail?" Joe asked looking at the cuddling lovebirds with what he probably thought was tremendous tolerance.

"I'd like to know as well given that I just got you out of trouble Hunter." Sergeant Cutter asked as he Seth and Ryan walked back in.

"I don't know. I've been in contact with Kurt and Noah since I left Ohio but neither one of them mentioned Finn. He certainly hasn't been in contact with me. Then he follows me down the hall talking about me coming home to Ohio? It was just so weird and out of the blue. You know how I'm a little bit psychic and I just got this really bad vibe from him. The fact that the faster I walked the more he kept up with me when it was clear I didn't want anything to do with him? Just made that feeling worst." Rachel shuddered and slipped her hands under the back of Hunter's shirt. She needed more contact with his skin.

"New Directions didn't look surprised. They looked angry though. Like they'd hoped it wouldn't but they expected something like this to happen." Ryan commented having been watching their reactions while Sergeant Cutter was intimidating Mr. Schuster.

"From now on Rachel you go nowhere alone. I know you and Hunter are joined at the hip but if you go to the bathroom from now on you girls do that thing where you go in a group…" The man frowned with what looked like sudden realization. "Is that why girls always go in a group?"

"For fear of being attacked while alone in a restroom? Uh yeah. Being alone is dangerous." Jenny stated. She was notorious for never going anywhere alone. Then again she'd also been assaulted once when she lived in Ft. Bragg.

"We're the group to beat. We probably should have a bubby system in place anyway. Show Choirs are known for sabotage." John told them.

"Hmmm…" Rachel pulled out her phone and shot off a text to Kurt.

Rachel: "Did you expect that to happen?"

"Kind of. Finn's been acting weird since you left." :Kurt

Rachel: "Why didn't you warn me?"

"We were trying to take care of it on our end. We even had an intervention. Schue says Finn's not allowed to go anywhere alone anymore. One of the guys or Lauren will be with him the whole time." :Kurt

Rachel: "Ditto."

"I'll talk to Carole about getting him some real help when we get home." :Kurt

Rachel: "Doesn't she have some kind of prejudice against psychologists. She was always snarky about Dad's job."

"I didn't know that." :Kurt

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Kurt nodded at his phone. "Rachel's getting escorted everywhere from now on as well."

Mr. Schuster sighed, "Good." He ran a hand through his curls. "Can't we get through one competition without something happening?"

"This is all Rachel's fault!" Tina shouted drawing surprised looks from everyone.

"Whoa. Timeout. How is this Rachel's fault? We haven't seen or talked to her in six months before a few days ago. She had nothing to do with this." Puck made the timeout sign with his hands.

"That we know of." Tina countered.

"Puck and I have been talking to Rachel since she left. She's happy where she's at and obnoxiously confident in her team's chances. She has no reason to do anything to us. She's been vaguely friendly from a distance for the last few days but that's it. I know she's not been talking to Finn so she wasn't encouraging him."

"How do you know she's not been sexting him this whole time stirring up trouble from afar? Sounds like her." Santana crossed her arms.

"Rachel? Sexting? I don't like her any more than you do but she wouldn't know the first thing about sexting." Quinn commented hardly believing she was defending Rachel but Kurt was right. The pint-sized diva hadn't had anything to do with New Directions in months. Besides she'd snatched Finn's phone more than a few times during her Prom prep to send the messages she'd been badgering him to that he'd kept forgetting about. While Rachel's number was still in there had been no messages to her and since Finn wasn't even smart enough to erase Santana's sexts from two years ago he surely wasn't smart enough to delete messages to Rachel.

"And why would she? Have you seen Hunter? He's gorgeous. Blaine and I were on the phone muted in her pocket when they had their reunion. Trust me Finn hasn't got anything that Hunter doesn't give her in spades. Not to be cliché but they're hopelessly devoted to one another."

That finally shut them up. They'd all seen Hunter because nearly every time Rachel waved at them from the stage or down the hall Hunter had been nearby. The guy seemed to be allergic to sleeves and, after an intense dance routine, shirts. In fact most of the guys in the Joy Brigade seemed to get shirtless during their dance practice and more than one group of girls was only too eager to peek at them for reasons that had nothing to do with spying for their teams.

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The Joy Brigade crushed Nationals to absolutely no one's surprise. Vocal Adrenaline took second place for the first time in eight years. Rachel may have sent a text to Jesse St. James with several egg emojis and smiley faces with their tongues sticking out. The former VA star had reconnected with Rachel a couple of months before with a sincere apology. Privately Hunter had stolen his number and had a quietly threatening chat with his fiancé's former boyfriend. Jesse had been extremely polite and distant ever since.

New Directions placed 5th thanks in large part to Puck's original song and the fact that Finn's injuries meant that suddenly Puck was the one singing instead of their usual male lead. Blaine's incredible performance helped a lot as well.

Rachel and Hunter spent half the year at Ft. Lewis before their parents were transferred to Ft. Carson. There they lead that choir to another Nationals title. They did not meet New Directions there again. Rachel had to go troll through the show choir message boards to discover they'd been disqualified when one of the new girls fainted on stage. Over the last two years she'd slowly lost touch with New Directions as even Kurt messaged her only rarely.

They became the kind of friends who sent birthday greetings on Facebook once a year. Either side thought fondly of the other but they just didn't have anything in common anymore. Rachel and Hunter were crammed into a tiny Hell's Kitchen apartment going to Tisch and Columbia respectively for almost two years before Rachel realized Kurt was going to FIT. Every great once in a while they met up for dinner.

She ran into Noah at a recording studio years after that when she was recording the soundtrack for her second Broadway success. He was a session guitarist there while writing songs on the side. He and Hunter actually became quite good friends bonding over a love of baseball and their children. They named Noah godfather to their youngest son.

Rachel would never know that in a tiny town in Ohio in a tiny high school she'd long said good bye to hung a framed picture of her first Tony win juxtapose her Glee Captain Yearbook photo in an often contested choir room. The plaque underneath was simple. "Rachel Berry got her start here. Never give up." Mr. Schuester typically leaves out the struggles, the fights, the drama when talking to his new choir students but that picture of a tiny dark haired girl with a bulbous nose and the argyle sweater and the bright shiny star after her name gets a lot of his kids through the darker places of high school so he never takes it down. After he retires Principal Sylvester has the picture moved to the auditorium entrance and makes a note to always keep a copy of Rachel's autobiography in the library. It tells a different story.


End file.
